Pink Macarons
A French inspired sweet meringue-baked confection
Equipment
- Food processor, baking sheets or parchment paper, cookie sheets, 2 pastry bags with round tip, sieve, electric hand held mixer with whippimg attachment, cooling racks, 2 mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup almond flour, finely ground
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon added at two different times
- 3 egg whites, separated must be room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teas vanilla
- 2 drops pink food coloring gel a little amount of color goes a long way! Substitue liqiud red dye with one drop. Take care to not add too much liquid.
Filling to make while macarons are baking
- 1 8 oz block of cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted No lumps please
- 1 teas vanilla
- 1 teas appx raspberry jam or preserves
Instructions
- MAKING THE MACARONS
- Prepare baking sheets with silicon baking sheets or parchment paper
- Mix powdered sugar, almond flour and salt together 1/2 teas salt in the food processor on low speed until super fine
- Sift through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl
- In a seperate bowl, beat the egg whites in a seperate bowl until and other 1/2 teas salt with the hand mixer until soft peaks are formed. Gradually add the granulated sugar beating until fully incorporated. Beat until stiff peaks form. If in doubt, check by turning the bowl upside down without anything falling out!
- Add the vanilla folding in until mixed
- Fold in food coloring until just combined. You dont want the egg whites to fall.
- Using a spatula, add 1/3 of the alomnd flour mixture at time to the beaten egg whites gently folding it in until all is combined. After all almond flour is combined, slowly continue to fold until the batter falls into ribbons and you can make a figure 8 while holding the spatula up.
- Add batter to pastry bag with round tip
- If using parchment paper, put a dot of the batter on each of the 4 corners, then put the parchment paper pressing it down. This will keep the paper from slipping. The silicon sheets don't slip so skip this step if using them.
- Pipe the macarons onto the parchment paper / silicon baking sheet in 1½-inch (3-cm) circles, spacing at least 1-inch (2-cm) apart. Tap the baking sheet on a flat surface 5 times to release any air bubbles.
- Let them sit to dry to the touch at room temperature about 30 minutes to one hour.
- Preheat oven to 300 F
- Bake in preheated over for about 17 minutes until the puffs in the corners rise. Macarons should not stick to the prepared baking sheets
- Transfer macarons to cooling rack. Cool fully before filling
- MAKE FILLING
- Sift powdered sugar to remove lumps
- In the 2nd mixing bowl mix the block of cream cheese until totally soft and mixed
- Add sifted powdered sugar very slowly, a little at a time while beating into the filling
- Stir raspberry perserves or jam into filling mixture
- Add the vanilla and mix throughly. Add small amount and mix to check thickness. Only add a little more if needed so the filling is a good consistancy to pipe on to the bottom. Take care to not make it to soft or soupy
- Prepare fresh clean pastry bag and fill it with the filling
- The macarons will split natuarally. Pipe on to the bottom of each macaron dollop. Put top on.
- Store in air tight container for 24 hours to set. Store up to 2 weeks in the refridgerator